Catherine Casey Nanda
& Amon Anderson
Co-Founders and Managing Partners, Acumen America
THE CATALYST AWARD
Directing capital, influence, or institutional power toward promising ideas and leaders that may have otherwise been overlooked or undervalued
Area of focus: Economic OpportunityAbout
acumen america
Acumen America is the leading early-stage investor backing companies building innovative solutions to three systemic symptoms and drivers of poverty in America: health, wealth, and work. They work to close capital gaps for traditionally overlooked founders and unlock innovations that might otherwise not get funded. Over the last 10+ years, Acumen America has invested in 50 of the leading companies tackling poverty in America — 80% of them led by underrepresented founders — and partnered with policymakers and others to make sure these innovations reach scale.
Learn moreget to know catherine and amon
What inspired you to do this work? Was there a particular moment or person or incident that sparked a new level of commitment?
We have spent our career focused on social justice, innovation, and unlocking the power of entrepreneurs to tackle the toughest problems on the planet. We met in Nairobi 20 years ago and have worked together ever since — and a decade ago when we launched Acumen America we saw the opportunity to build a new model to effect real change in America, both for communities and the systems that support them.
What drives you to keep questioning the status quo and building new ways to overcome tough challenges?
We are facing the biggest disinvestment in the safety net in a generation, and yet we see entrepreneurs reimagining and rebuilding systems to better serve vulnerable communities across the US. We’re motivated by founders like Noella Sudbury who has made criminal justice reform her life’s work, first as a public defender and now with Rasa, a platform that makes clearing a criminal record affordable and accessible for all Americans.
What solutions are you working on that make you excited and hopeful for the future?
Five years ago, we launched the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative (MIC), a first-of-its-kind platform that vets founders building tech solutions for Medicaid populations and connects them with health plans and state Medicaid agencies to adopt health innovation and drive broader sector-level change. We’ve proven these models can work at scale: in Kentucky, Samaritan — a digital platform that helps people without a home get the social and financial support they need — has seen a 49% reduction in inpatient utilization and 46% improvement in PCP connections, and turned a MIC pilot into a statewide Medicaid program.
What are the "unlocks" — approaches, practices, or principles — that have helped you be effective in building this innovative approach to place-based opportunity development?
Proximity matters: we realized early on that founders who are deeply invested in their communities have the knowledge, context, and trust to improve the lives of people in them — that has been a driving force for the type of investments we make and we’ve seen companies with this kind of founder-problem fit outperform their competitors again and again.
Working with the public sector is essential to scale and systems change: We sit at the intersection of entrepreneurs, policymakers, and healthcare buyers, bringing experience that few other investors have. Combining best-in-class investing with ambitious sector-building can drive real impact, meaningful systems change, and improve the lives of all Americans.
We need new ways of investing: We believe radical change requires new economic models and we have built a unique evergreen model that holds itself accountable to radical impact and financial sustainability. Our leading philanthropic supporters allow us to provide catalytic investment that takes big risks for big systems change.
mentors
Serena Williams
Tennis Legend, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Investor, Author, Reckitt Catalyst Entrepreneur-in-Residence
I've had the pleasure of working with Catherine and Amon through our Reckitt Catalyst partnership and watched up close how they identify and support traditionally overlooked entrepreneurs. Acumen America has a singular vision to drive systems change and improve health equity across the country, and that starts by investing in founders personally invested in their own communities.
“
Ryan Rippel
CEO, NextLadder Ventures
I have long admired Catherine and Amon's conviction in driving real systems change across America — rooted in the belief that big ideas can solve big problems, and that those ideas can come from anyone. Acumen America has proven what’s possible when overlooked founders receive capital, fueling ideas and expanding economic opportunity. If more capital followed their lead, we could unlock more pathways to prosperity for millions of Americans.
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more awardees
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THE INVENTOR
Ken Ikeda
CEO, CAST (Community Arts Stabilization Trust) -
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THE SUSTAINER
Artis Stevens
CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America -
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THE ADVOCATE
Zarqa Yaftali
Founder and Chairperson, Women and Children Research and Advocacy Network -
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THE INNOVATOR
Sarah Alexander & Olivia Rosenthal
Co-Founders and Co-CEOs, Patch Caregiving -
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THE CATALYST
Catherine Casey Nanda & Amon Anderson
Co-Founders and Managing Partners, Acumen America -
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The builder
Adair Mosley
CEO, GroundBreak Coalition -
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The mobilizer
Alexa Arnold
CEO & Co-Founder, The TAG Movement -
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The integrator
Sixto Cancel
Founder and CEO, Think of Us -
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The architect
Jennifer Blatz
CEO, StriveTogether -
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The storyteller
Vanessa Renae
Co-Founder and President, GirlTREK
